Health Benefits of Coffee

Like most Americans, I start my day with a cup of coffee. I have a cup or two while I’m at work and then maybe a cup when I get home. Sometimes I wonder if it’s good for me to be drinking so much coffee. I’ve done a little research lately, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/31/coffee-healthbenefits_n_1064577.html#s440649&title=Coffee_Or_At, and found that it’s not so bad to drink so much coffee, in fact it can actually be good for you.

1-3 cups per day

Women have a 15 percent lower risk of depression. Men have a 30 percent less chance of getting prostate cancer. Coffee also helps lower the risk of getting Parkinson’s disease by as much as 25 percent.

3-5 cups per day

Women have a 20 percent lower risk of depression. Coffee helps to fight Alzheimer’s disease. It also lowers the chances of getting basal cell carcinoma (the most common cancer in the world) in women by 20%, and it lowers the chances of men getting carcinoma by 9 percent.

6 cups per day

Men have a 60 percent less chance of getting a dangerous form of prostate cancer.

It is important to note that decaf coffee does not have the same health benefits as caffeinated coffee does. Also, with all things, it is important to consume coffee in moderation.

If all these health benefits aren’t enough, it might be helpful to learn that for every extra cup of coffee you drink a day, it lowers your risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 7 percent.

Joy Larson is a mother of four, graduate of The University of Montana, animal lover and writer.